Heading to Hau'oli City

The night was still long, but to avoid getting sick from the constant sea breeze, Xingye checked the map and headed with Cyclizar toward the area near Ten Carat Hill.

There were quite a few caves here that had been washed out by the seawater. Some wild Krabby had claimed them as nests, but as long as they did not disturb them, staying inside for a night would be fine.

Perhaps it was tired as well. Cyclizar lay beside the stone wall and slowly drifted off to sleep, while Xingye lay on the seat-like protrusion behind its back. It was just large enough for one person to lie on and was surprisingly comfortable.

"This map feature is pretty useful. Not only are city streets and small locations marked in great detail, but even areas in the wild where Pokémon populations live are clearly marked and described."

Xingye was still fiddling with his phone. As an indispensable daily necessity, he needed to figure this thing out first. There might even be hidden features he had yet to discover.

He switched between panel mode and phone mode and found several differences.

In the former, many apps had been disabled. The only usable ones were the social app, map, phone calls, and other core phone functions.

Maybe it was simply for speed and convenience, so he could help more Pokémon. There was only one problem: the phone currently had no internet connection.

Earlier, Rotom Phone must have automatically connected to Professor Burnet's home network and loaded the map of Alola. Now that he was too far away, the connection had automatically dropped.

Fortunately, the phone had already updated the time, which was very important. The lock screen showed October 26th, 1:36 a.m...

"So it's already October. Even in a tropical place like Alola, it's normal for the temperature to drop a little, especially at night."

As he spoke, Xingye switched the phone to panel mode. That way, he would not need to carry it around, which was convenient, and he could check the map at any time.

What he needed most right now was a place to stay. Otherwise, without a fixed home, the chances of running into danger would increase drastically.

Naturally, if he wanted to find somewhere to live, he had to go to Hau'oli City. As Alola's largest city, it surely had plenty of abandoned houses. There had to be homes left vacant because housing prices were too high.

Xingye also had another idea: find some temporary work in Hau'oli City that did not require ID, earn some money first, and worry about everything else later.

"I'm starting to feel like some homeless drifter, bro. Don't tell me I'm really going to end up living off treasure chests."

Thinking that, he became extremely sleepy. He lay on Cyclizar and gradually fell asleep.

Outside, the sea breeze slowly died down. Moonlight reflected across the water, making the waves shimmer. Everything was quiet and peaceful.

On the beach, Sandygast had completely blended into the sand. A Pyukumuku crawled onto it without it noticing, while several Mareanie huddled together in a group.

At that moment, the entire Melemele Island seemed to have fallen into a dream as well...

The temperature gradually rose. Before he knew it, it was already noon. All sorts of unfamiliar sounds came from outside, waking Xingye from his sleep... though he was not sure whether he had dreamed at all.

"My first sleep after crossing over was unexpectedly... huh?"

Xingye suddenly realized that he was still lying on Cyclizar. It had long since awakened and was watching the Krabby gathered in the distance to eat.

Those creatures were eating several unknown sea fish. It seemed that, besides humans and Pokémon, normal animals also existed in this world.

Otherwise, how could meat dishes be explained? It was impossible that everyone was chewing on Slowpoke tails or sucking on Kingler claws, right?

Cyclizar lay there watching them, and the look on its face that screamed it wanted fish was practically overflowing. Maybe because Xingye was still asleep, it had not acted, afraid of disturbing him.

"Cyclizar~"

The moment Xingye woke up, Cyclizar noticed. Only after he climbed down did it stand, clap its hands, and beam excitedly.

"Are you hungry?"

"Cyclizar, Cyclizar~"

Hearing its cry, Xingye glanced at the Krabby eating fish nearby and immediately understood what it meant. He smiled.

"Alright, then. Let's find some food first!"

"Cyclizar~"

When the Krabby saw them suddenly approaching, they assumed they had come to attack or steal food. They immediately waved their pincers and struck intimidating poses.

Seeing that, Xingye merely smiled. Then he and Cyclizar walked past them from the side, waving as he said, "Thanks for letting us stay in your home for the night..."

"???"

The Krabby blew bubbles, looking utterly confused. They clearly did not understand what he meant, but after seeing the two leave just like that, they lowered their guard and continued eating...

Xingye would not casually steal their food. After all, he needed to keep building friendships with Pokémon, so it was best not to cause any unpleasantness.

But for wild Pokémon that actively attacked them, he definitely could not keep acting like this. Only an idiot would stand there and let someone hit him.

After leaving the cave at Ten Carat Hill, he returned to the shore. The Melemele Sea was exceptionally lively during the day. Every so often, he could see people riding Mantine and speeding into the distance atop rolling waves.

"Alola's specialty Mantine Surf looks pretty fun..."

Xingye stared excitedly at the sea, but at that moment, Cyclizar had already locked onto prey!

It immediately lunged into the seawater and caught several fish near the shore in one go. Mixed among them was a smaller Magikarp.

Then it carried them all back and cried happily before Xingye, "Cyclizar, Cyclizar~"

"Impressive... but you should eat them."

Watching Cyclizar offer him the fish, Xingye waved his hand. These were all species of fish he had never seen before. Eating raw fish without knowing what they were was unsafe, and it was better to be careful in the wild.

Humans and Pokémon could not be lumped together. Much of what Pokémon could eat might be poison to humans—the lethal kind.

So he decided to fill his stomach with Berries instead. But among the fish Cyclizar had tossed onto the ground, he reached down, picked up the constantly flopping Magikarp, and threw it back into the sea.

"You really shouldn't eat this one. Its body is almost entirely bones. Bite into it, and you'll crack your teeth."

Although he said that, Xingye knew Magikarp reproduced incredibly quickly and possessed terrifying survival abilities. From the deep sea to filthy ditches, they could survive anywhere. That was why many wild Pokémon included them in their diets—when they could not find anything else to eat, they ate Magikarp.

But just then, his phone suddenly chimed. When he took it out and looked, he was surprised to see a reward effect...

[Obtained Magikarp's friendship: Splash (can cancel jump recovery during a jump to achieve faster consecutive jumping; actually not very useful)]

"This... friendship is way too cheap!"

Xingye was completely baffled. If he had to explain it, Magikarp was simply dull-witted and had casually expressed its gratitude. It probably did not even understand what it meant itself.

No matter what, having something was better than having nothing. Even if it was a talent of unclear use, perhaps it could be paired with other talents in the future.

He also noticed that this talent did not say it was limited to a specific user, which meant both Trainers and Pokémon could use it.

But in the social app, only his own little avatar was displayed as able to use it. Cyclizar was not among them. Perhaps because it had not been caught, it could not count as his Pokémon.

"I really need to catch one soon!"

But after Magikarp's sudden incident, he realized something: Pokémon that were somewhat dim-witted or naturally friendlier toward humans had a higher chance of giving him their friendship. So perhaps he could start with Chansey?

After waiting for Cyclizar to finish eating those fish, Xingye had it make another ladder for him and picked some more Berries from nearby fruit trees to fill his stomach.

With everything settled, he did not plan to stay here any longer. While he still had plenty of time, he would find a place to live first and worry about the rest afterward.

"Let's go! We're heading to Hau'oli City!"

"Cyclizar~"